Una ilusión monetaria es una ilusión que sucede a causa de una mala utilización de los indicadores económicos, que no tienen en cuenta por lo general variaciones en el índice de precios, en los tipos de cambio o en la inflación entre otras. Un ejemplo es el efecto de un incremento anual de los salarios (los precios de los recursos productivos en general), acompañado por una muy alta inflación. Se genera una ilusión porque, una vez restada la inflación, el incremento real de los salarios puede ser muy reducido o incluso negativo. A la inversa, si sólo se toma en cuenta el índice de inflación, ignorando el aumento nominal de los salarios (el cual puede ser superior en términos de poder adquisitivo real), también se está frente a una ilusión monetaria. En resumen, es la impresión que tienen los individuos y empresas de haber aumentado o disminuido su capacidad de compra al haber sufrido un cambio sus rentas nominales o los precios, cuando de hecho no toman en cuenta la inflación (que produce una pérdida del poder adquisitivo real) y/o los incrementos salariales (que pueden superar en términos reales a la inflación). Otro ejemplo es utilizar la producción en vez de la producción per cápita para medir el crecimiento de un país.

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In economics, money illusion, or price illusion, refers to the tendency of people to think of currency in nominal, rather than real, terms. In other words, the numerical/face value (nominal value) of money is mistaken for its purchasing power (real value) at a previous point in the general price level (in the past). This is false, as modern fiat currencies have no intrinsic value and their real value is derived from all the underlying value systems in an economy, e.g., sound government, sound economics, sound education, sound legal system, sound defence, etc. The change in this real value over time is indicated by the change in the Consumer Price Index over time. The term was coined by Irving Fisher in Stabilizing the Dollar. It was popularized by John Maynard Keynes in the early twentieth century, and Irving Fisher wrote an important book on the subject, The Money Illusion, in 1928. The existence of money illusion is disputed by monetary economists who contend that people act rationally (i.e. think in real prices) with regard to their wealth. Eldar Shafir, Peter A. Diamond, and Amos Tversky (1997) have provided empirical evidence for the existence of the effect and it has been shown to affect behaviour in a variety of experimental and real-world situations. Shafir et al. also state that money illusion influences economic behaviour in three main ways: \n* Price stickiness. Money illusion has been proposed as one reason why nominal prices are slow to change even where inflation has caused real prices or costs to rise. \n* Contracts and laws are not indexed to inflation as frequently as one would rationally expect. \n* Social discourse, in formal media and more generally, reflects some confusion about real and nominal value. Money illusion can also influence people's perceptions of outcomes. Experiments have shown that people generally perceive an approximate 2% cut in nominal income with no change in monetary value as unfair, but see a 2% rise in nominal income where there is 4% inflation as fair, despite them being almost rational equivalents. This result is consistent with the 'Myopic Loss Aversion theory'. Furthermore, the money illusion means nominal changes in price can influence demand even if real prices have remained constant.

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